A huge country mansion is about to belong to one lucky new owner - for just £2.

Melling Manor in Lancashire is being raffled off by its current owner after struggling to sell it on the open market over the past few years - with the winner announced as Marie Segar from Warrington.

It was then Dunstan Low, 37, came up with the idea of raffling off the six-bed property, aiming to sell 500,000 £2 tickets to recoup his money back.

He bought the house in 2014 for £435,000 and then spent £150,000 renovating the property, before putting it up for sale for £800,000 only to receive no offers.

Dunstan Low, pictured, has given away his six-bedroom mansion in Lancashire as a raffle prize after selling tickets for £2 each

Ms Segar, pictured with partner Gary Roughly, said she was overwhelmed to win the mansion and had 'only won £9 on the lottery' before

Ms Segar, right, who works in finance, will also receive the title of 'Lady' of Milling, which was raffled off alongside the property

He bought the property, pictured, for £435,000 in 2014 and then spent another £150,000 renovating it only to struggle to find work and keep up with the mortgage payments

After struggling to sell the mansion on the market, he decided to stage the raffle and has recouped almost £900,000 in ticket sales, with the winner today announced as Marie Segar from Warrington

Mr Low made the draw this afternoon and called Ms Segar only for her to accuse him of 'winding her up'.

According to The Blackpool Gazette, she said: 'I'm just in shock. I can't believe it, I just can't. I don't have a plan, I entered and I never thought for a moment...you know I haven't even told anybody! Thank you so much!'

Ms Segar, who works in finance, will also receive the title of 'Lady' of Milling, which was raffled off alongside the property.

St John's Hospice, who previously owned the title, decided to donate it to the raffle after receiving a £30,000 donation from the Low family out of their competition earnings.

After learning of her success, stunned Ms Segar added: 'I've never won anything before. This is completely surreal. I've only ever won £9 on the lottery.'

She also joked that she would be changing the name on her bank card to 'Lady' Marie.

Mr Low said he has now been overwhelmed with offers from people all over the world asking him to raffle their properties for them.

He added: 'I have no regrets at all about the way we did this - I wouldn't change a thing. It was stressful but it has been an amazing experience.

'I want congratulate Marie on her win and I really hope that she enjoys the house. We really struggled to do it any other way. I would do it like this again.'

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His wife Natasha, 33, said: 'Financially it just got too much so I said let's just give it back to the bank.

'He said "let me just try one more thing." He went away and came back and said "I have put the house up for raffle".

'He had made a website and everything. I'll be honest, I never thought that this would work, I just thought he was nuts.

'All of this has made me so proud of Dunstan.'

Mr Low revealed he has raised almost £900,000 from the raffle and said Ms Segar bought 20 tickets for £40.

Speaking to the Gazette, he added: 'Over the past six months we have sold 500,000 paid entries to our raffle and we have had around 12,000 free entries. We have people from Bentham, Lancaster, all the way to the Bronx, New York, and New Zealand enter the competition.'

Mr Low said he fell in love with the grand property, which comes complete with a ballroom, in 2011 and moved into it with his wife Natasha, 32, and their two children Ozzy, five, and Dylan, 15

But the internet marketer and graphic designer said it had become increasingly difficult for him to find work in the area and he has seen his income dramatically reduced.

Unable to keep on top of his mortgage repayments Dunstan decided to put the property, a Grade II listed manor built in 1797, on the market.

Mr Low, pictured in the kitchen of the property, said Ms Segar bought 20 tickets for £40 and called it a 'very good investment'

As well as a very modern kitchen, the property also comes with its own ballroom, a cinema room and parking for six vehicles

Mr Low, pictured outside the home, added raffle tickets were bought by people from as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, Italy and the US

But he had very little interest and instead decided to run a unique competition so someone could get the mansion on the border of Lancashire and Cumbria mortgage free.

Mr Low said: 'When we looked around it I fell in love with its grandeur and size. I don't think it would look out of place in London.

'It's size is incredible, and I just knew I would be able to do so much with the space.

'After we moved in, it turned into a huge project. I thought it would just need a lick of paint, but there was so much that needed doing.

'It had been a hotel at one point, so there were en-suite bedrooms in every room, but no family bathroom. It was hard work but enjoyable.'

In the first 24 hours after tickets went on sale Mr Low raised £1,500 and he said interest came in from as far a field as Australia, Italy and America.

He added: 'After talking to many estate agents and quick buy companies, we believe it is in our best interest to take the sale of our property into our own hands, whilst offering someone else to the opportunity to own and enjoy the property as their own.

'I had been thinking about doing this on and off for a few years now but so far hadn't acted.

'I knew that people had done this before but had problems, and I needed to make sure everything was above board and legal.'

The internet marketer and graphic designer, pictured in the bathroom of the home, said the Georgian property had previously been a hotel

The father-of-two said the property was a 'fantastic opportunity' for the right owner and said he would have loved to remain if he could have found work

The Grade II-listed building, pictured, was built in 1797 and new owner Ms Segar said she was 'in shock' at the win and initially thought it was a 'wind-up'

Mr Low had the whole property, which has a cinema room, wood burning stove and parking for six cars, completely redecorated and believes the palatial semi-detached Georgian house would make the right family the perfect home.

The family decided to move out and rent the manor, but found tenants did not take as good as care of the property as they would like.

Last December, they put it up for sale again at £845,000, but have had only one viewing since. At one point they dropped the asking price as low as £500,000 but still received no offers.

Speaking earlier this year, Mr Low said: 'I am not sure what the problem is. I think a lot of people are down sizing. The location could also have something to do with it.

'I know that I could easily find work in London, but cities stress me out. It's such a beautiful area and a fantastic opportunity for someone.'